<i
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~'I···--~ THE NATURE OF LOVE 1
HARRY F. HARLOW
, ...... "n
- University o/Wisconsin
Love is a wondrous state, deep, tender, and re­
warding. ,Because of its intimate and personal na­
tU!'e it is regarded by some as an improper topic
lor experimental research. But, whatever our per- .
~nal feelings may be, our assigned mission as psy­
cilologists is to analyze all facets of human and
tion: April 23-2S,
animal behavior into their component variables.
So far as love or affection is concerned, psycholo­
gists have ~ailedin this mission. The little we
know about love does not transcend simple obser­
vation, and the little we Write about it has been
rritten better by poets and novelists. But of
, 'concern is the fact that psychologists tend
to give progressively less attention to a motive
m: May 7-9, 1959; which pervades our entire lives. Psychologists, at
least psychologists who write· textbooks, not only
show no interest in the origin and development of
~ve or affection, but they seem· to be unaware of
i!$ very existence.
0· .· :' \
The apparent repression of love by modern psy­
~. chologists stands in sharp contrast with the atti­
tude taken by many famous and normal people.
The word "love" has the highest reference fre­
quency of any word cited in Bartlett's book of
ociation: May 14­ Familiar Quotations. It would appear that this
emotion has long had a vast interest and fascina­
tion for human beings, regardless of the attitude
taken by psychologists; but the quotations cited,
even by famous and normal people, have a mun­
cine dane redundancy; These authors and authorities
have stolen love from the child and infant and
made it the exclusive' property of the adolescent
and adult.
'ancem~nt of Sci· Thoughtful men, and probably all women, have
lshington, D.' C. speculated on the nature of love; From the de­
velopmental point of view, the general plan is quite
I Address of the President at the sixty-sixth Annual Con­
of the American Psychological Association, Wash­
mcement of Science
D. C., August 31, 1958.
The researches reported in this paper were supported by
~ supplied by Grant No. M-722, National Institutes of
!alth, by a grant from the Ford Foundation, and by
funds received from the Graduate School of the Univer­
lily of Wisconsin.
673
~ Q,
PrM~ L~nn ~·rnt
clear: The initial love responses of the human be­
ing are those made by the infant to the mother or
some mother surrogate. From this intimate attach­
ment of the child to the mother, multiple learned
and generalized affectional responses are formed.
Unfortunately, beyond these simple facts we
know little about the fundamental variables under­
lying the formation of affectional responses and
little about the mechanisms through which the love
of the infant for the mother develops into the
multifaceted response patterns characterizing love
or affection in the adult. Because of the dearth of
experimentation, theories about the fundamental
nature of affection have evolved at the level of
observation, intuition, and discerning guesswork,
whether these have been proposed by psycholo­
gists, sociologists, anthropologists, physicians, or
psychoanalysts.
The position commonly held by psychologists
and sociologists is quite clear: The basic motives
are, for the most part, the primary drives-particu­
larly hunger, thirst, elimination, pain, and sex­
and all other motives, including love or affec­
tion, are derived or secondary drives. The mother
is associated with the reduction of the primary
drives-particularly hunger, thirst, and pain-and
through learning, affection or love is derived.
It is entirely reasonable to believe that the
mother througn association with food may become
a secondary-reinforcing agent, but this. is an in­
adequate mechanism to account for the persistence
of the infant-maternal ties. There is a spate of re­
searches on the, formation of secondary reinforcers
to hunger and thirst reduction. There can be no
question that almost any external stimulus can be­
come a secondary reinforcer if properly associated
with tissue-need reduction, but the fact remains
that this redundant literature demonstrates un­
equivocally that such derived drives suffer rela­
tively rapid experimental extinction. Contrariwise,
human affection does not extinguish when the
mother ceases to have intimate association with
the drives in question. Instead, the affectional
 c-'
,~.
674 THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
FIG. 1. Response to cloth pad by one-clay-old monkey.
ties to the mother show a lifelong, unrelenting per­
sistence and, even more surprising, widely expand-­
ing generality.
Oddly enough, one of the few psychologists who
took a position counter to modern psychological
~\ilI
-
dogma was John B. Watson, who believed that love
was an innate emotion elicited by cutaneous stimu­
lation of the erogenous zones. But experimental
psychologists, with their peculiar propensity to dis­
cover facts that are not true, brushed this theory
aside by demonstrating that the human neonate
had no differentiable emotions, and they established
a fundamental psychological law that prophets are
without honor in their -own profession.
The psychoanalysts have concerned themselves
with the problem of the nature of the development
of love in the neonate and infant, using ill and
aging human beings as subjects. -They have dis­
covered the overwhelming importance of the breast
and related this to the oral erotic tendencies de­
veloped at an age preceding their subjects' memo­
ries. Their theories range from a belief that the
infant has an innate need to achieve and suckle at
the breast to beliefs not unlike commonly accepted
psychological theories. There are exceptions, as
seen in the recent writings of John Bowlby, who
attributes importance not only to food and thirst
satisfaction, but also to "primary object-clinging,"
a need for intimate physical contact, which is
initially associated with the mother.
(
As far as I know, there exists no direct experi­
mental analysis of the relative importance of the
stimulus variables determining the affectional or
love responses in the neonatal and infant primate.
Unfortunately, the human neonate is a limited ex­
perimental subject for such researches because of
his inadequate motor capabilities. By the time
_ the human infant's motor responses -can be pre­
cisely measured, the antecedent determining condi­
tions cannot be defined, having been lost in a
jumble and jungle of confounded variables.
Many of these difficulties can be resolved by the
use of the neonatal and infant macaque monkey as
the subject for the analysis of basic affectional vari­
ables. It is possible to make precise measur~ments
in this primate beginning at two to ten days of age,
depending upon the maturational status of the in­
dividual animal at birth. The macaque infant
differs from the human infant in that the monkey
is more mature at birth and grows more rapidly;
but the basic responses relating to affection, in­
cluding nursing, contact, clinging, and even visual
and auditory exploration, exhibit no fundamental
differences in the two species. Even the develop­
ment of perception, fear, frustration, and learning
capability follows very similar sequences in rhesus
monkeys and human children.
Three years' experimentation before we started FIG. 3. (
our studies on affection gave us experience with
-the neonatal monkey. We had separated more fed babies were heal
than 60 of these animals from their mothers 6 to mother-reared infanl
12 hours after birth and suckled them on tiny monkey mothers tl
bottles. The infant mortality was only a smaJl thanks to synthetic
fraction of what would have obtained had we let penicillin, chlorom}
the monkey mothers raise their infants. Our bottle- stant, tender, loving
During the coun
that the laboratoIJ
attachment to the
!>ers) which were m
Hoors of their cage:
pads and engaged if
the pads were remc
reasons. Such cont
been reported previo
for the monkey an
George Haslerud fo
niscent of the deVOl
infants to their pill(
stUffed toys. Resp
infant monkey to t:
Fro. 2. Response to gauze pad by six-month-old monkey Ure I, and an unust
used in earlier study. six-month-old infant
 THE NATURE OF LOVE
677
md infant in Figure 2. The baby, human or ITh
,~' ,; a limited ex. to survive, must clutch at more than
. ches because of We had also discovered during somt.
ies. By the time servational studies that a baby monkey
,onses can be pre. a bare wire-mesh cage floor survives with
determining condi. if at all, during the first five days of r
19 been lost in a wire-mesh cone is introduced, the baby does
~d variables. and, if the Cone is covered with terry cloth,
be resolved by the healthy, happy babies evolve. It takes more tha
nacaque monkey as a baby and a box to make a normal monkey. We
(sic affectional vari. were impressed by the possibility that, above and
('cise measurements beyond the bubbling fountain of breast or bottle,
to ten days of age, contact comfort might be a very important vari­
al status of the in. able in the development of the infant's affection
le macaque infant for the mother.
n that the monkey At this point we decided to study the develop­
:ows more rapidly; ment of affectional responses of neonatal and infant
19 to affection, in. monkeys to an artifIcial, inanimate mother, and so
19, and even visual we built a surrogate mother which we hoped and
lit no fundamental believed would be a good surrogate mother. In
Even the develop. devising this surrogate mother we were dependent
ation, and learning neither upon the capriciousness of evolutionary
sequences in rhesus processes nor upon mutations produced by chance
radioactive fallout. Instead, we designed the
FIG. 3. Cloth mother surrogate.
, before we started mother surrogate in terms of modern human-en­
us. experience with gineering principles (Figure 3). We produced a
;cparated mare fed babies were healthier and heavier than monkey­ perfectly proportioned, streamlined body stripped
.rJ~Jr mothers 6 to mother-reared infants. We know that we are better of unnecessary bulges and appendices. Redun­
:;.Ied them on tiny monkey mothers than are real monkey mothers dancy in the surrogate mother's system was avoided
was only a small thanks to synthetic diets, vitamins, iron extracts, by reducing the number of breasts from two to one
btained had we let penicillin, chloromycetin, 50/0 glucose, and con­ and placing this unibreast in an upper-thoracic,
infants. Our bottle· stant, tender, loving care. sagittal position, thus maximizing the natural and
During the Course of these studies we noticed known perceptual-motor capabilities of the infant
that the laboratory-raised babies showed strong
attachment to the cloth pads (folded gauze dia­
pers) which were used to cover the hardware-cloth
floors of their cages. The infants clung to these
pads and engaged in violent temper tantrums when
the pads were removed and replaced for sanitary
reasons. Such contact-need or responsiveness had
been reported previously by Gertrude van Wagenen
for the monkey and by Thomas McCulloch and
George Haslerud for the chimpanzee and is remi­
niscent of the devotion often exhibited by human
infants to their pillows, blankets, and soft, cuddly
stuffed toys. Responsiveness by the one-day-old
infant monkey to the cloth pad is shown in Fig­
sb:.monlh.old monkey Ure 1, and an unusual and strong attachment of a
udy. six-month-oJd infant to the cloth pad is illustrated FIG. 4. Wirr "no cloth mother surrogate~
 .~~
674 THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST

MOI1lER FED ON WIRE MOTHER intake from the mother surrogate was adequate.
~~I--~---r--~r---~---r, oniy difference be
_CUITII_ Thus, the experiment was designed as a test of the
relative importance of the variables of contact com­
position of the fe
mother infants 5

~
~ fort and nursing comfort. During the first 14 days
Z! '2 ment. The wire
i3
of life the monkeyls cage floor was covered with a
:6
but psychological
heating pad wrapped in a folded gauze diaper, and
~ We were not s
thereafter the cage floor was bare. The infants
:::E or I t t ! ,1
were always free to leave the heating pad or cage
comfort was an i:
'Hi) ltJ:l. tHO 2l-U l~ 6-JO ""*' 16-20 2:W
variable, but we
OA.YS Of AGE DAy,s Of AGE
floor to contact either mother, and the time spent
so completely thE
FIG. S. Time spent on cloth and wire mother surrogates. on the surrogate mothers was automatically re­
disparity is 50 gn
corded. Figure 5 shows the total time spent on
function of nursin
the cloth and wire mothers under the. two Con­
operator. The surrogate was made from a block of insuring freqw
ditions of feeding. These data make it obvious
of wood, covered with sponge rubber, and sheathed the infant with th
that contact comfort is a variable of overwhelming
in tan cotton terry cloth. A light bulb behind her live by milk alon
importance in the development of affectional re­
radiated heat. The result was a mother, soft, not need to be bo
sponses, whereas lactation is a variable of negli­
warm, and tender, a mother with infinite patience, sure that there i,
gible importance. With age and opportunity to
a mother available twenty-four hours a day, a lip service to lov(
learn, subjects with the lactating wire mother
mother that neved scolded her infant and never A charming lar
showed decreasing responsiveness to her and in­
struck or bit her baby in anger. Furthermore, experiments; and
creasing responsiveness to the nonlactating cloth
we designed a mother-machine with maximal main­ her, her face brigl
mother, a finding completely contrary to any in­
tenance efficiency since failure of any system or I know what's wr
terpretation of derived drive in which the mother­
'''''''', function could be resolved by the simple substi­ a wire mother."
)-~; ~ll form becomes conditioned to hunger-thirst reduc­
..; tution of black boxes and new component parts. might have been
tion. The persistence of these differential responses
It is our opinion that we engineered a very su­ throughout 165 consecutive days of testing is evi­ We believe thai
perior monkey mother, although this position is not dent in Figure 6. the animal kingdl
held universally by the monkey fathers. One control group of neonatal monkeys was fectional response
Before beginning our initial experiment we also raised on a single wire mother, and a second con­ have no experime
designed and constructed a second mother surro­ trol group was raised on a single cloth mother. sition, we supply
gate, a surrogate in which we deliberately built less There were no differences between these two groups cepted, if at alL (
than the maximal capability for contact comfort. in amount of milk ingested or in weight gain. The
This surrogate mother is illustrated in Figure 4.
She is made of wire-mesh, a substance entirely ade­
quate to provide postural support and nursing ca­ FED .ON CLOTH MOTHER
pability, and she is warmed by radiant heat. Her 24
body differs in no essential way from that of the IS
cloth mother surrogate other than in the quality
of the contact comfort which she can supply.
~ 12 ~ 0----0 WIRE MOTHER

o 6
In our initial experiment, the dual mother-surro­ a:
III 01= o---<>--------<>------<>---------o:J
gate condition, a cloth mother and a wire mother 0... 1~5 ~25 sci-as 12~125 160~165
(f) DAYS OF AGE
were placed in different cubicles attached to the in­ a:
fant's living cage as shown in Figure 4. For four
g FED ON WIRE MOTHER
::I: 24
newborn monkeys the cloth mother lactated and z
the wire mother did noti and, for the other four, ;:1 IS

this condition was reversed. In either condition the

infant received all its milk through the mother sur­
:'E 12

6
~ 0----0 WIRE MOTHER

ot r--<r--------1"-----e;-----'9 J 1
rogate as soon as it was able to maintain itself in
1-5 20-25 eo-as 120425 160-165
This is the
this way, a capability achieved within two or three DAYS OF AGE
',,­ Replete wi;
days except in the case of very immature infants. FIG. 6. Long-term contact time on cloth and wire Dlother
Each conta
Supplementary feedings were given until the milk surrogates.
Elicits tons
 THE NATURE OF LOVE 677
~e was adequate. only difference between the groups lay in the com­
. as a test of the
j
position of the feces, the softer stools of the wire­
'iables of contact com.
mother infants suggesting psychosomatic involve­
uring the first 14 days
ment. The wire mother is biologically adequate
)r was covered with a
but psychologically inept.
ded gauze diaper, and
We were not surprised to discover that contact
.s bare. The infants
comfort was an important basic affectional or love
~ heating pad or cage
variable, but we did not expect it to overshadow
r, and the time spent
so completely the variable of nursing; indeed, the
vas automatically re­
disparity is so great as to suggest that the primary
: total time spent on
function of nursing as an affectional variable is that
under the two con.
of insuring frequent and intimate body contact of
lata make it obvious
the infant with the mother. Certainly, man cannot
iable of overwhelming
live by milk alone. Love is an emotion that does
ent of affectional reo
not need to be bottle- or spoon-fed, and we may be
: a variable of negIi.
sure that there is nothing to be gained by giving -From Zoo Guide; Zoological Society of London
: and opportunity to
lip service to love. The Rhinocerus
,ctating wire mother
. A charming lady once heard me describe these The rhino's skin is thick and tough,

eness to her and in.

experiments; and, when I subsequently talked to And yet this skin is soft enough

he nonlactating cloth
her, her face brightened with sudden insight: "Now That baby rhinos always sense,

contrary to any in·

I know what's wrong with me," she said, "I'm just A love enormous and intense.

in which the mother·

a wire mother." Perhaps she was lucky. She
I hunger-thirst reduc·
might have been a wire wife.
: differential responses
We believe that contact comfort has long served
lays of testing is evi·
; ,
the animal kingdom as a motivating agent for af­
.~ monkeys was
,.':ll.l fectional responses. Since at the present time we
", and a second con· have no experimental data to substantiate this po­
single cloth mother. sition, we supply information which must be ac­
Neen these two groups cepted, if at all, on the basis of face validity:
. in weight gain. The

fH MOTHER

• •
)THER
THER

----<>---...---0
5 120:125 IGO~IG5
AGE
:E MOTHER

-----
IOTHER
lTHER
• ___.0-_____ -0

5
AGE
t

12<H25
. r

160-165
-From Look, August 19, 1958

The Hippopotamus
This· is the skin some babies feel

From All About Snakes, E. M. Hale & Co.

The Snake
To baby vipers, scaly skin

Replete with hippo love appeal.

Engenders love 'twixt kith and kin.

,n cloth and wire mother

Each contact, cuddle, push, and shove
Each animal by God is blessed

Elicits tons of baby love.

With kind of skin it loves the best.

 r",\
678 THE AMERICAN PSYCl101.00tSf

role or fUnction is :
mother and child are
present time we hav,
tionship on four of
signed to the dual
introducing them for
environment of a re
feet by six feet (als
and containing mul
curiosity-manipulatol
The subjects were p
week for eight wee
present during alte;
mother present duril
was always available
out all sessions. Af!
sions, the infants ahl
rogate when she Wi
rubbed their bodies
manipulated her bod
ditional sessions, th
-Ylla mother surrogate as .
, ........')\.
/~ )1~jU operations. As is s
The Elephant
they would explore a
Though mother may be short on arms, then return to the m(
Her skin is full of warmth and charms.
And mother's touch on baby's skin You see, all God's chillun's got skin.
Endears the heart that beats within.
One function of the real mother, human or sub­
human, and presumably of a mother surrogate, is
to provide a haven of safety for the infant in times
of fear and danger. The frightened or ailing child
clings to its mother, not its fatner; and this selec­
tive responsiveness in times of distress, disturbance,
or danger may be. used as a measure of the strength
of affectional bonds. We have tested this kind of
differential responsiveness by presenting to the in­
fants in their cages, in the presence of the two
mothers, various fear-producing stimuli such as the
moving toy bear illustrated in Figure 13. A typi­
cal response to a fear stimulus is shown in Figure
14, and the data on differential responsiveness are
presented in Figure 15. It is apparent that the
cloth mother is highly preferred over the wire one,
-Sponholz
and this differential selectivity is enhanced by age
and experience. In this situation, the variable of
The Crocodile nursing appears to be of absolutely no importance:
Here is the skin they love to touch. the infant consistently seeks the soft mother surro­
It isn't soft and there isn't much, gate regardless of nursing condition.
But its contact comfort will beguile Similarly, the mother or mother surrogate pr~­
Love from the infant crocodile. vides its young with a .source of security, and tblS FIG. 13, T
 THE NATURE OF LOVE 679

role or function is seen with special clarity when

mother and child are in a strange situation. At the

~
present time we have completed tests for this rela­

r~~

tionship on four of our eight eaby monkeys as­
signed to the dual mother-surrogate condition by
introducing them for three minutes into the strange
environment of a room measuring six feet by six
feet by six feet (also called the "open-field test")
and containing multiple stimuli known to elicit
curiosity-manipulatory responses in baby monkeys.
The subjects were placed in this situation twice a
week for eight weeks with no mother surrogate
present during alternate sessions and the cloth
mother present during the others. A cloth diaper
was always available as one of the stimuli through­
out all sessions. After one or two adaptation ses­
sions, the infants always rushed to the mother sur­
rogate when she was present and clutched her,
rubbed their bodies against her, and frequently
manipulated her body and face. After a few ad­
ditional sessions, the infants began to use the
mother surrogate as a source of security, a base of
operations. As is shown in Figures 16 and 17,
they would explore and manipulate a stimulus and Fro. 14_ Typical response to cloth mother surrogate
then return to the mother before adventuring again in fear test.

n' ~t skin.
JU into the strange new world. The behavior of these
.~ , infants was quite different when the mother was
[her, human or sub­ absent from the room. Frequently they would
mother surrogate, is freeze in a crouched position, as is illustrated in
r the infant in times Figures 18 and 19. Emotionality indices such as
tened or ailing child vocalization, crouching, rocking, and sucking in­
. and this selee­ creased sharply, as shown in Figure 20. Total
disturbance, emotionality score was cut in half when the mother
lsure of the strength was present. In the absence of the mother some
: tested this kind of of the experimental monkeys would rush to the
lresenting to the in­
lresence of the two 100
: stimuli such as the (f)
w ~CLOTH MOTHER
Figure 13. A typi­ ~ 80 o- .. --oWIRE MOTHER
is shown in Figure
o
0..
.1 responsiveness are
t3 60
; apparent that the
0::

j over the wire one,

r- 40
z
is enhanced by age w
u 2.0 "''''''''"''''''''
ion, the variable of
'teiy no importance: W
0:: "",/ "',"'-_______ ~_-----_.c ~
e soft mother surra­ 0.. 0 C----,~-I?
7 12 22 42 62.
lition.
MEAN DAY OF AGE
lther surrogate pro­
)f security, and this Fro. 13. Typical fear stimulus. FIG. 15. Differential responsi\'eness in [ear tests.
~)
680 THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST

5
2
o
0:4
~
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w3
:i
t=z
Z
L;}I
:i

EXPERI
FIC. 20. Ernoliul
presen

FIG. 16. Response to cloth mother in the open-field test.
center of the room where the mother was custom­
arily placed and then run rapidly from object to
object, screaming and crying all the while. Con­
tinuous, frantic clutching of their bodies was very
common, even when not in the crouching position.
~JJ. ...
These monkeys frequently contacted and clutched
:l;u the cloth diaper, but this action never pacified
them. The same behavior occurred in the pres­
ence of the wire mother. No difference between
the cloth-mother-fed and wire-mother-fed infants
was demonstrated under either condition. Four
control infants never raised with a mother surro­
gate showed the same emotionality scores when
the mother was absent as the experimental infants
showed in the absence of the mother, but the con­
trols' scores were slightly larger in the presence of
the mother surrogate than in her absence.
Some years ago Robert Butler demonstrated that
response selectivii
strength of affectic
FIG. 18. Response in the open-field test in the absence of in the baby versi;
the mother surrogate. sequence involves
in which four stin
mature monkeys enclosed in a dimly lighted box
infant monkey, an
would open and reopen a door hour after hour for
a 3D-minute perio·
no other reward than that of looking outside the
four subjects in t
box. We now have data indicating that neonatal
were given a sing!.
monkeys show this same compulsive visual curi­
of age, depending
osity on their first test day in an adaptation of the
paratus, and only
Butler apparatus which we call the I<love machine,"
second set of four
an apparatus designed to measure love. Usually
tests to obtain infi
these tests are begun when the monkey is 10 days
of age, but this same persistent visual exploration
has been obtained in a three-day-old monkey dur­
ing the first half-hour of testing. Butler also dem­
onstrated that rhesus monkeys show selectivity in
rate and frequency of door-opening to stimuli of
differential attractiveness in the visual field out­
side the box. We have utilized this principle of

FIG. 19. -Response in the open-field test in the absence of

FIG. 17. Object exploration in presence of cloth mother. the mother surrogate.
 ~ ~ATURE OF LOVE , 681

1500
:g
o
cc4
I.IJ

en
~
Q..

13 1000
1.IJ3

::Ii:

f
Ct:
i=z w
z >
W
« ..J :500
II:
'" :r...
0:
0:
0:
0:
w
:c '" :r :x:
,..w ~::11 '"
I.IJ
~
z
<[
w .. ~ 6:IE l­
0 ,.. i
I-
II:
w

EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL

~
'"'" :c '"0: '"
~ 9 i
I­

()
..
Z
oJ
'" 6
Z
0
:IE
:r
..J
::11
w
a:
i
..
'"z
..J
w
'"0 §:x:
Z
::11 u
'!:~
:x:
...... z
.'"
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'" 3f.
()
FIG. 20. Emotionality index with and without the
o '" '"
presence of the cloth mother.
CONTROLS DUAL FED SINGLE CLOTH
1N-41 (N-4) MOTHER (N-41

response selectivity by the monkey to measure FlG. 22. Differential responses to visual exploration.
strength of affectional responsiveness in our infants
test in the absence of
in the baby version of the Butler box. The test ment of visual exploration. Th.e apparatus is illus­
:tte.
sequence involves four repetitions of a test battery trated in Figure 21. The data obtained from the
in which four stimuH-cloth mother, wire mother, first four infants raised with the two mother surro­
dimly lighted box infant monkey, and empty box-are presented for gates are presented in the middle graph of Figure
hour after hour for a 30-minute period on successive days. The first 22 and show approximately equal responding to
looking outside the four subjects in the dual mother-surrogate group the cloth mother and another infant monkey, and
a~g that neonatal
were given a single test sequence at 40 to 50 days . no greater responsiveness to the wire mother than
)ulsive visual curi­ (If age, depending upon the availability of the ap­ to an empty box. Again, the results are independ­
n adaptation of the paratus, and only their data are presented. The ent of the kind of mother that lactated, cloth or
the "love machine," second set of four subjects is being given repetitive wire. The same results are found for a control
,ure love. Usually tests to obtain information relating to the develop­ group raised, but not fed, on a single cloth mother;
monkey is 10 days these data appear in the graph on the right. Con­
~·t;ual exploration trariwise, the graph on the left shows no differential
old monkey dur­ responsiveness to cloth and wire mothers by a
;. Butler also dem­ second control group, which was not raised on any
show selectivity in mother surrogate. We can be certain that not all
ening to stimuli of love is blind.
le visual field out­ The first four infant monkeys in the dual mother­
ed this principle of surrogate group were separated from their mothers
between 165 arid 170 days of age and tested for re­
tention during the following 9 days and then at 30­
day intervals for six successive months. Affectional

(1)300
I.IJ
~Z50
I.IJ
:fzoo
:i 150
> " ~~, V 1....--....
/'0
~
z
100 .~, t/
'" 50 CLOTH MOTHER¥'
I.IJ C>--<>ViIRE MOTHER
~ 0 ...... BLANK
tONATNE 5 35 65 95 125 155 185
MEAN RETENTION DAYS
FIG. 23. Retention of differential visual-exploration
.gate. Fro. 21. Visual exploration apparatus. responses.
 682 THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST

~ to that during the preseparation tests; but they ent upon the results
r.1 ----.. CLOTH MOTHER tended to show gradual adaptation to the open-field that affectional respo
~IOO situation with repeated testing and, consequently, sistance to extinction
0
l- '80 a reduction in their emotionality scores. onstrated for learned
U)
In the last five retention test periods, an addi­ such data would be il
t; GO
tional test was introduced in which the surrogate mon human observatil
!z""
0

40 mother was placed in the center of the room and The infant's respOl
<.> 20
covered with a clear Plexiglas box. The monkeys in the fear tests, the
z were initially disturbed and frustrated when their baby Butler box and'
""
IIJ
:I explorations and manipulations of the box failed to tests cannot be descI
provide contact ~ith the mother. H;owever, all ani­ For supplementary in
FIG. 24. Retention of puzzle manipulation responsiveness. mals adapted to the situation rather rapidly. Soon tion picture record.
they used the box as a place of orientation "for ex­ film was presented il
retention as measured by the modified Butler box
ploratory and play behavior, made frequent con­ the behaviors describ~
is given in Figure 23. In keeping with the data
tacts with the objects in the field, and very often We have already de
obtained on adult monkeys by Butler, we find a
brought these objects to the Plexiglas box. The) trol infants that had
high rate of responding to any stimulus, even the
emotionality index was slightly higher than in the' any mother surrogat
empty box. But throughout the entire 18S-day
condition of the available cloth mothers, but it in sign of affection or Sl
. retention period there is a consistent and signifi­
no way approached the emotionality level displayed cloth mothers introdl
cant difference in response frequency to the cloth
when the cloth mother was absent. Obviously, the these infants reached
mother contrasted with either the wire mother or
infant monkeys gained emotional security by the containing both a cIo
the empty box, and no consistent difference be­
presence of the mother even though contact was were attached to thei
~ .
.
'
,\,
tween wire mother and empty box.
Affectional retention was also tested in the open
denied.
Affectional retention has also been measured by
tion in these mothero
solid-food diet. The
field during the first 9 days after separation and tests in which the monkey must unfa.sten a three­ keys to the alteration
then at 30-day intervals, and each test condition device mechanical puzzle to obtain entrance into a anee. All the infants
was run twice at each retention interval. The in­ compartment containing the mother surrogate. All repeated attempts to
fant's behavior differed from that observed during the trials are initiated by allowing the infant to go door was opened. T:
the period preceding separation. When the cloth through an unlocked door, and in half the trials it from the mother sun,
mother was present in the post-separation period, finds the mother present and in half, an empty erable amount of roc
the babies rushed to her, climbed up, clung tightly compartment. The door is then locked and a ten­ indicative of emotion
to her, and rubbed their heads and faces against minute test conducted. In tests given prior to that the critical pel
her body. After this initial embrace and reunion, separation from the surrogate mothers, some of the maternally directed ,
they played on the mother, including biting and infants had solved this puzzle and others had these macaque child
tearing at her cloth cover; but they rarely made failed. The data of Figure 24 show that on the affectional orphans.
any attempt to leave her during the test period, last test before separation there were no differences Continued for only 1;
nor did tbey manipulate or play with the objects in total manipulation under mother-present and ally ebbed, changin!
in tbe room, in contrast with their behavior before mother-absent conditions, but striking differences Contact on, and explo
maternal separation. The only exception was the exist between the two conditions throughout the home-cage behavior
occasional monkey that left the mother surrogate post-separation test periods. Again, there is no slowly became simila
momentarily, grasped the folded piece of paper interaction with conditions of feeding. With the mother sun
(one of the standard stimuli in the field), and The over-all picture obtained from surveying the nipulation and play
brought it quickly back to the mother. It appeared retention data is unequivocal. There is little, if any, progressively more v
that deprivation had enhanced the tie to the mother waning of responsiveness to the mother throughout !Uutilation, particula
and rendered the contact-comfort need so prepotent this five-month period as indica,ted by any measure. the cloth mother hac
that need for the mother overwhelmed the explora­ It becomes perfectly obvious that this affectio~J of terry covering. 1
tory motives during the brief, three-minute test ses­ bond is highly resistant to forgetting and that It actively running to 1

'0 sions. No change in these behaviors was observed

throughout the 18S-day period. When the mother
was absent from the open field, the behavior of
the infants was similar in the initial retention test
can be retained for very long periods of time by
relatively infrequent contact reintorcement. Dur~
ened and had to be
from the cage for fo
ing the next year, retention tests will be conduct~. Objective evidence
at 90-day intervals, and further plans are depen giVen in Figure 25, \'

~!'__Jests; but th~y
. I the open-field
that affectional responses ll1ay show as much re­
aud, consequently,
sistance to extinction as has been previously dell1­
r scores.
onstrated for learned fears and learned pain, and
t periods, an addi­
{hich the surrogate
~r of the room and
)ox. The monkeys
Istrated when their
of the box failed to
. H;owever, all ani­
1ther rapidly. Soon
t orientation for ex­
made frequent con­
.eld, and very often
Plexiglas box. The
. higher than in the
1 mothers, but it in
lality level displayed
ent. Obviously, the
,nal security by the
though contact was
o been ll1easured by
lst unfasten a three­
ltain entrance into a
~ ·,r surrogate. All
.fig the infant to go
I in half the trials it
l in half, an empty
en locked and a ten­
tests given prior to
ll1others, SOll1e of the
zle and others had
24 show that on the
:e were no differences
ll1other-present and
t striking differences
tions throughout the
Again, there is no
f feeding.
!d froll1 surveying the
There is little, if any,
he mother throughout
:ated by any ll1easure.
; that this affectional
:orgetting and that it
.g periods of time by
reinforcement. Dur·
ests will be conducted
her plans are depend·
THE NATURE OF LOVE
ent upon the results obtained. It would appear
Within 10 days mean contact time is approxi­
mately nine hours, and this measure remains rela­
tively constant throughout the next 30 days. Con­
such data would be in keeping with those of COll1­
j!lon human observation.
The infant's responses to the mother surrogate
in the fear tests, the open-field situation, and the
baby Butler box and the responses on the retention
tests cannot be described adequately with words.
For supplementary information we turn to the mo­
tion picture record. (At this point a 20-ll1inute
film was presented illustrating and supplementing
the behaviors described thus far in the address.)
We have already described the group of four con­
trol infants that had never lived in the presence of
any mother surrogate and had demonstrated no
sign of affection or security in the presence of the
cloth mothers introduced in test sessions. When
these infants reached the age of 250 days, cubicles
containing both a cloth mother and a wire mother
were attached to their cages. There was no lacta­
tion in these ll1others, for the monkeys were on a
solid-food diet. The initial reaction of the mon­
keys to the alterations was one of extrell1e disturb­
ance. All the infants screamed violently and ll1ade
repeated attempts to escape the cage whenever the
door was opened. They kept a ll1axill1Ull1 distance
[rom the ll10ther surrogates and exhibited a consid­
erable amount of rocking and crouching behavior,
indicative of emotionality. Our first thought was
that the critical period for the development of
maternally directed affection had passed and that
these macaque children were doomed to live as
affectional orphans. Fortunately, these behaviors
continued for only 12 to 48 hours and then gradu­
ally ebbed, changing from indifference to active
contact on, and exploration of, the surrogates. The
home-cage behavior of these control monkeys
slowly became similar to that of the animals raised
with the mother surrogates from birth. Their ma­
nipulation and play on the cloth mother became
progressively more vigorous to the point of actual
mutilation, particularly during the morning after
the cloth mother had been given her daily change
of terry covering. The control subjects were now
actively running to the cloth mother when fright­
ened and had to be coaxed from her to be taken
from the cage for forll1al testing.
Objective evidence of these changing behaviors is
given in Figure 25, which plots the amount of till1e
683
these infants spent on the mother surrogates.
sistent with the results on the subjects reared from
birth with dual mothers, these late-adopted in­
fants spent less than one and one-half hours per
day in contact with the wire mothers, and this ac­
tivity level was relatively constant throughout the
test sessions. Although the maximum time that the
control monkeys spent on the cloth mother was
only about half that spent by the original dual
mother-surrogate group, we cannot be sure that
this discrepancy is a function of differential early
experience. The control monkeys were about three
ll10nths older when the mothers were attached to
their cages than the experimental animals had been
when their mothers were removed and the reten­
tion tests begun. Thus, we do not know what the
amount of contact would be for a 250-day-old ani­
mal raised from birth with surrogate mothers.
Nevertheless, the magnitude of the differences and
the fact that the contact-time curves for the moth­
ered-from-birth infants had remained constant for
almost 150 days suggest that early experience with
the mother is a variable of measurable importance.
The control group has also been tested for dif­
ferential visual exploration after the introduction
of the cloth .and wire mothers; these behaviors are
plotted in Figure 26. By the second test session
a high level of exploratory behavior had developed,
and the responsiveness to the wire mother and the
empty box is significantly greater than that to the
cloth mother. This is probably not an artifact
10 i
9
1 k:
CI)
8
ga::
:r 7
z
......CLOTH MOTHER
I.IJ 0--0 WIRE MOTHER
::IE
I­
Z
¢
I.IJ
::IE
<>---_:.0-_---.0---- _-o-_~-_-o
zro·zrg 28(}289
2lIO-2!!9 2600269 290-299
DAYS OF AGE
FIG. 25. Differential time spent on cloth and wire mother
surrogates by monkeys started at 250 days of age.
 684 THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
100
90
t1eo
I/)
I/) 70
That the control monkeys develop affection or
Ii!
Il. 60
15 lIO
>
~ 40
~30
of the affectional response below that of the infant
~ 20
monkeys that were surrogate-mothered from birth
10
25cr258 270-278 290-298 310-318
DAYS OF AGE
FIG. 26. Differential visual exploration of monkeys started
. had had limited opportunity to view and contact
at 250 days of age.
since there is every reason to believe that the face
of the cloth mother is a fear stimulus to most mon­
keys that have not had extensive experience with
this object during the first 40 to 60 days of life.
Within the third test session a sharp change in
trend occurs, and the cloth mother is then more
~
frequently viewed than the wire mother or the
blank box; this trend continues duri;lg the fourth
session, producing a significant pr~rence for the
cloth mother.
Before the introduction ~f the mother surrogate
into the home-cage situatiort., only one of the four
control monkeys had ever contacted the cloth
mother in the open-field tests. In general, the
surrogate mother not only gave the infants no se­
curity, but instead appeared to serve as a fear
stimulus. The emotionality scores of these con­
trol subjects were slightly higher during the mother­
present test sessions than during the mother-absent
test sessions. These behaviors were changed radi­
cally by the fourth post-introduction test approxi­
mately 60 days later. In the absence of the cloth
mothers the emotionality index in this fourth test
remains near the earlier level, but the score is re­
duced by half when the mother is present, a result
strikingly similar to that found for infants raised
with the dual mother-surrogates from birth. The
control infants now show increasing object explora­
tion and play behavior, and they begin to use the
mother as a base of operations, as did the infants
raised from birth with the mother surrogates.
~
However, there are still definite differences in the
behavior of the two groups. The control infants
do not rush directly to the mother and clutch her
violently; but instead they go toward, and orient
particularly natural
around, her, usually after an initial period dUring
which they frequently show disturbed behavior, ex­ as either unlearned
ploratory behavior, or both. Visual responsivene.
it is possible that
love for the cloth mother when she is introduced printing may devE
There are indicatiOl
into the cage at 250 days of age cannot be ques­
tioned. There is every reason to believe, however,
01 importance durin
that this interval of delay depresses the intensity some maturational
John Bowlby hao
iectional variable v
onward. In interpreting these data it is well to following," charaetc
remember that the control monkeys had. had con­ of the mother's fae!
tinuous opportunity to observe and hear other baby monkeys are
as are human neo:
monkeys housed in adjacent cages and that they
But by 30 days oi
ness to the mother's
surrogate mothers in the test situations, even
though they did not exploit the opportunities. learning, maturatiOl
During the last two years we have observed the to believe that the
behavior of two infants raised by their own moth­ cial attention.
ers. Love for the real mother and love for the Our first surrog
surrogate mother appear to be very similar. The mother whose head
baby macaque spends many hours a day clinging the baby was a mc
time to design a mo
to its real mother. If away from the mother when
frightened, it rushes to her and in her presence baby had contact \'
180 days and was tl
shows comfort and composure. As far as we can
ers, one motionless.
observe, the infant monkey's affection for the real
mother is strong, but no stronger than that of dowed with painte
the experimental monkey for the surrogate cloth surprise the animal
mother, and the security that the infant gains faces 180 degrees s
from the presence of the real mother is no greater smooth face and I
[ace. Furthermore,
than the security it gains from a cloth surrogate.
patience of the e}
Next year we hope to put this problem to final,
faces persisted. T
definitive, experimental test. But, whether the
mother is real or a cloth surrogate, there does de­ fear or anxiety, bl
velop a deep and abiding bond between mother ence. Subsequently
and child. In one case it may be the call of the pulsively removing
wild and in the other the McCall of civilization, its cage as fast as t
trigued by this ob
but in both cases there is "togetherness."
In spite of the importance of contact comfort, amine systema ticall
in the developrnen
there is reason to believe that other variables of
Indeed, these obser
measurable importance will be discovered. Pos­
series of ethologicc
tural support may be such a variable, and it has
faCed female.
been suggested that, when we build arms into the
mother surrogate, 10 is the minimal number re­
quired to provide adequate child care. Rocking
motion may be such a variable, and we are Com"
paring rocking and stationary mother surrog~tes
and inclined planes. The differential responsI\,e"
ness to cloth mother and cloth-covered incrIIIe•
d
plane suggests that clinging as well as contact IS
an affectional variable of importance. sounds,
 THE NATURE OF LOVE 685

particularly natural, maternal sounds, may operate Although we have made no attempts thus far to
.ia.l period during
is either unlearned or learned affectional variables. study the generalization of infant-macaque affec­
r"'Iehavior, ex­
Visual responsiveness may be such a variable, and tion or love, the techniques which we have devel­
jt is possible that some semblance of visual im­ oped offer promise in this 1..\J1charted field. Beyond
relop affection or
printing may develop in the neonatal monkey. this, there are few if any technical difficulties in
she is introduced
There are indications that this becomes a variable studying the affection of the actual, living mother
, cannot be ques­
of importance during the course of infancy through for the child, and the techniques developed can be
believe, however,
some maturational process. utilized and expanded for the analysis and develop­
sses the intensity
John Bowlby has suggested that there is an af­ mental study of father-infant and infant-infant af­
that of the infant
fectional variable which he calls "primary object fection.
:hered from birth
iollowing," characterized by visual and oral search Since we can measure neonatal and infant affec­
lata it is well to
of the mother's face. Our surrogate-mother-raised tional responses to mother surrogates, and since we
~ys had had Con.
baby monkeys are at first inattentive to her face, know they are strong and persisting, we are in a
and hear other
as are human neonates to human mother faces. position to assess the effects of feeding and con­
es and that they
But by 30 days of age ever-increasing responsive­ tactual schedules; consistency and inconsistency in
view and contact
ness to the mother's face appears--whether through the mother surrogates; and early, intermediate, and
situations, even
learning, maturation, or both-and we have reason late maternal deprivation. Again, we have here a
lpportunities.
to believe that the face becomes an object of spe­ family of problems of fundamental interest and
lave observed the
cial attention. theoretical importance .
. their own moth­
Our first surrogate-mother-raised baby had a If the researches completed and proposed make
and love for the
mother whose head was just a ball of wood since a contribution, I shall be grateful; but I have also
ery similar. The
the baby was a month early and we had not had given full thought to possible practical applications.
rs a day clinging
time to design a more esthetic head and face. This The socioeconomic demands of the present and the
the mother when
baby had contact with the blank-faced mother for threatened socioeconomic demands of the future
in her presence
180 days and was then placed with two cloth moth­ have led the American woman to displace, or
As far as we can
ers, one motionless and one rocking, both being en­ threaten to displace, the American man in science
ction for the real
dowed with painted, ornamented faces. To our and industry. If this process continues, the prob­
than that of
~
surprise the animal would compulsively rotate both lem of proper child-rearing practices faces us with
lfrogate cloth
faces 180 degrees so that it viewed only a round, startling clarity. It is cheering in view of this
t.,e infant gains
smooth face and never the painted, ornamented trend to realize that the American male is physi­
ther is no greater
face. -Rurthermore, it would do this as long as the cally endowed with all the really essential equip­
3, cloth surrogate.
problem to final,~p.ncp. the experimenter in reorienting the ment to compete with the American female on
The monkey showed no sign of equal terms in one essential activity: the rearing
$ut, whether the
fear or anxiety, but it showed unlimited persist­ of infants. We now know that women in the work­
te, there does de-
between mother ence. Subsequently it improved its technique, com­ ing classes are not needed in the home because of
Je the call of the
pulsively removing the heads and rolling them into their primary mammalian capabilities; and it is
111 of civilization, its cage as fast as they were returned. We are in­ possible that in the foreseeable future neonatal
trigued by this observation, and we plan to ex­ nursing will not be regarded as a necessity, but as
·erness."
amine systematically the role of the mother face a luxury-to use Veblen's term-a form of con­
contact comfort,
lther variables of in the development of infant-monkey affections. spicuous consumption limited perhaps to the upper
discovered. Pos-· Indeed, these observations suggest the need for a classes. But whatever course history may take, it
dable, and it has series of ethologicaHype researches on the two­ is comforting to know that we are now in contact
lild arms into the faced female. with the nature of love.
limal number re­
d care. Rocking
and we are com­
nother surrogates
ential responsive·
l-covered inclined
well as contact is
)rtance. Sounds,